Z.T. Nguyễn's drawing practice contemplates and reacts to the fragility of standardized and commodified identities. Understanding the processes of standardization and commodification as foundations upon which contemporary life is manufactured, each of Nguyễn's drawings are constructed from US letter size (8.5”x11”) sheets of paper—as if they are made of documents, letters, sketches, notes, and other paper ephemera.
Nguyễn is interested in what the histories of standardization and commodification can reveal about the assimilatory realities of nationalism, political allegiances, migration, love, and sexuality. These historically contextualized realities, in turn, influence the emotional tone of his imagery. Ranging from romanticized depictions of the night sky and insects to careful renderings of his own body and architectural elements, Nguyễn's hand-drawn images offer moments of tension, solitude, dreaming, and (un)rest that teeter on the edge of disruption. They simultaneously resist and embrace the urge to break free from the bleak and violent histories that dictate the ubiquities of our everyday lives.
EDUCATION
2023-25
MFA Student (Painting & Printmaking), Yale School of Art
2019
BFA (Painting), Rhode Island School of Design
2016
Brown University
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Cẩm nang sử dụng: Cuộc đời, Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA) - Hà Nội, Việt Nam
Means of Production, Shisanwu LLC & Sheerly Touch-Ya Warehouse - Glendale, NY
2023
why do i always fall out of bed at night?, Green Hall Gallery, Yale School of Art - New Haven, CT
The I Has to Travel, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery - New York, NY
(Im)material Ruins, Asia Art Archive in America (AAA-A) - Brooklyn, NY
2021
Speeding Up, Slowing Down, Kunstraum LLC - Brooklyn, NY
Another’s Table, Textile Arts Center (online)
2020
Word, Image, Object, Action, Transmitter - Brooklyn, NY
Subtle Speaks, Textile Arts Center - Brooklyn, NY
2019
Smear Frames, Design Center, RISD - Providence, RI
2018
In the Mood for Love, RISD Museum - Providence, RI
You’re Invited: Sleepover, RISD Museum - Providence, RI
2017
-isms, Design Center, RISD, Providence - RI
SELECTED FELLOWSHIPS, RESIDENCIES, & AWARDS
2022
Leadership Camp: (Im)material Ruins, Asia Art Archive in America (AAA-A) - Brooklyn, NY
2021
Southeast Asian Artist Fellowship (online), The Alternative Art School (TAAS) & MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
City Artist Corp Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) (received in partnership with curator Sarah Sloan)
2020
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Alumni Microgrant
2019
Artist in Residence, Textile Arts Center - Brooklyn, NY (2019-20)
Becky Westcott Memorial Painting Award, RISD Painting Department
2018
RISD Parents Council Fine Arts Internship Award
Summer Fellowship, Anderson Ranch Arts Center - Snowmass Village, CO
SELECTED PRESS
2024
VCCA giới thiệu triển lãm 'Cẩm nang sử dụng: Cuộc đời' (Tiền Phong)
Nguyễn is interested in what the histories of standardization and commodification can reveal about the assimilatory realities of nationalism, political allegiances, migration, love, and sexuality. These historically contextualized realities, in turn, influence the emotional tone of his imagery. Ranging from romanticized depictions of the night sky and insects to careful renderings of his own body and architectural elements, Nguyễn's hand-drawn images offer moments of tension, solitude, dreaming, and (un)rest that teeter on the edge of disruption. They simultaneously resist and embrace the urge to break free from the bleak and violent histories that dictate the ubiquities of our everyday lives.
EDUCATION
2023-25
MFA Student (Painting & Printmaking), Yale School of Art
2019
BFA (Painting), Rhode Island School of Design
2016
Brown University
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Cẩm nang sử dụng: Cuộc đời, Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA) - Hà Nội, Việt Nam
Means of Production, Shisanwu LLC & Sheerly Touch-Ya Warehouse - Glendale, NY
2023
why do i always fall out of bed at night?, Green Hall Gallery, Yale School of Art - New Haven, CT
The I Has to Travel, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery - New York, NY
(Im)material Ruins, Asia Art Archive in America (AAA-A) - Brooklyn, NY
2021
Speeding Up, Slowing Down, Kunstraum LLC - Brooklyn, NY
Another’s Table, Textile Arts Center (online)
2020
Word, Image, Object, Action, Transmitter - Brooklyn, NY
Subtle Speaks, Textile Arts Center - Brooklyn, NY
2019
Smear Frames, Design Center, RISD - Providence, RI
2018
In the Mood for Love, RISD Museum - Providence, RI
You’re Invited: Sleepover, RISD Museum - Providence, RI
2017
-isms, Design Center, RISD, Providence - RI
SELECTED FELLOWSHIPS, RESIDENCIES, & AWARDS
2022
Leadership Camp: (Im)material Ruins, Asia Art Archive in America (AAA-A) - Brooklyn, NY
2021
Southeast Asian Artist Fellowship (online), The Alternative Art School (TAAS) & MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
City Artist Corp Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) (received in partnership with curator Sarah Sloan)
2020
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Alumni Microgrant
2019
Artist in Residence, Textile Arts Center - Brooklyn, NY (2019-20)
Becky Westcott Memorial Painting Award, RISD Painting Department
2018
RISD Parents Council Fine Arts Internship Award
Summer Fellowship, Anderson Ranch Arts Center - Snowmass Village, CO
SELECTED PRESS
2024
VCCA giới thiệu triển lãm 'Cẩm nang sử dụng: Cuộc đời' (Tiền Phong)